Wednesday

Jun 20, 2018 at 12:18 PMJun 20, 2018 at 4:07 PM

“To forcibly separate children from their mothers and fathers in these cases is cruel. To use children as instruments of deterrence is not just,” said da Cunha, the latest of several Catholic bishops who have come out against the administration’s hardline immigration policy.

FALL RIVER — Bishop Edgar da Cunha today criticized the Trump Administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their families who are detained after crossing the United States’ southern border without legal documents.

“To forcibly separate children from their mothers and fathers in these cases is cruel. To use children as instruments of deterrence is not just,” said da Cunha, the latest of several Catholic bishops who have come out against the administration’s hardline immigration policy.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and former bishop of Fall River, used his blog to decry “the misguided moral logic” of “severing the most sacred human bond of parent and child.” On Monday, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence said the administration’s policy “is a cruel and unnecessary practice and it should stop now.”

In speaking to Reuters, Pope Francis said this week that he supports the American bishops who have called the separation of children from their parents “contrary to our Catholic values” and “immoral.” The pope also took to Twitter this morning to voice his support for migrants.

“A person’s dignity does not depend on them being a citizen, a migrant, or a refugee. Saving the life of someone fleeing war and poverty is an act of humanity,” the pope wrote.

A person's dignity does not depend on them being a citizen, a migrant, or a refugee. Saving the life of someone fleeing war and poverty is an act of humanity.#WithRefugees@M_RSection

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex)June 20, 2018

In early May, the newly-implemented "zero tolerance" immigration policy ordered the separation of families immediately after their being taken into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border. While the parents are placed in the custody of U.S. Marshals, the children are declared “unaccompanied” and placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Recent news reports indicate that more than 2,300 migrant children have been separated from their parents or guardians in the last several weeks.

“It is surely the right and responsibility of our government to secure our borders. Yet, effective immigration policies need not be hostile to families,” said da Cunha, who immigrated to the United States from Brazil as a 24-year-old seminarian.

Da Cunha said the nation’s immigration policies “should not be designed to tear apart families or separate parent from child as a punitive measure. Rather, they should uphold the foundational role of family in society.”

In April, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors along the southern border to "adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy" for illegal border crossings. Sessions has described the policy as a deterrent to illegal immigration.

Under the new policy, migrants from Mexico and Central America who have traveled thousands of miles to enter the United States without legal documents are taken into custody, and their children taken away from them. In some cases, parents have been deported while their children remained in the government’s custody. Immigration attorneys and advocates have raised concerns about the psychological toll on the children and the government’s longterm ability to care for and reunite them with their families.

In a prepared statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the Trump administration to keep families together, warning that “rupturing the bond between parent and child causes "scientifically-proven trauma that often leads to irreparable emotional scarring.”

“Families seeking entry into the country at the US/Mexico border usually do so at great risk, fleeing crime, violence and hopeless poverty at home,” da Cunha said. “Like so many immigrants before them, they come in pursuit of a better life for their children, and in many cases to save their lives.”

Da Cunha also urged “our faithful people to pray for the immigrants, for a just and permanent solution to the immigration issues, for actions in Congress to address the immigration questions and for compassion on the part of authorities as they deal with the difficult situation of the many immigrants.”

Email Brian Fraga at bfraga@heraldnews.com

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